Chapter 4:

Hermione watched the sun as it rose above the mountains in the distance. The bed she had slept in had been comfortable, but she was always ill at ease sleeping in a bed that wasn't hers. So she had risen early and then enjoyed a light breakfast, grateful that she wouldn't have to consume it in a formal setting with Snape and the Goblin King in attendance.

The Labyrinth didn't look wholly different to what her imagination had supplied the evening before. She could make out a few more details in the sunlight compared to the moonlight, but nothing remarkable. It was a dusty yellow-coloured maze that stretched on for miles and was occasionally broken up by the odd tree or hill, but still, it captivated her as she nibbled on a slice of pear. She avoided the peaches after hearing Sarah's story.

When the sun had officially risen high enough to declare it daytime, Hermione got herself dressed and moved into the lounge, unsurprised to find Sarah absent. In the interim, she read one of the books from the many shelves scattered around the room.

Sarah joined her about half an hour later, looking rugged and wearing last night's clothes. She barely said good morning before a knock at the door had them both tensing up.

Hermione answered it. A burly goblin with a potato-shaped and sized nose stood there, pointing his spear down the corridor. "We go to your Royal Hearing."

Hermione turned to see Sarah darting back into her room. "Tell him that I am just getting dressed."

Ten minutes later, Sarah, looking slightly more presentable, indicated that they should follow the goblin to the hearing. It was slow going, and the castle (outside their rooms) looked just as shabby and ill-kempt as it had appeared in the torchlight. Hermione struggled to reconcile what she knew of her fastidious ex-professor living in a ramshackle, run-down place such as this.

"If he is a King, shouldn't he be able to afford the upkeep on this place?" Hermione asked in a whisper to Sarah as they headed down another nondescript hallway.

"He is the King of the Goblins, though," Sarah pointed out. "I guess it would be like having a castle overrun with toddlers; after a while, you would just give up trying to keep it in good nick."

"I suppose," Hermione replied, eyeing a pair of moth-eaten red curtains that hung limply beside a cracked and smeared window. "But surely magic could fix most of this."

"We have already established that my forte lies in illusions," came a silk-edged voice from an alcove they had just passed. "And imagine, if we are to use Sarah's analogy, that in a castle full of toddlers, the best way to stop them from destroying something is to give it an appearance that it is already destroyed." The King produced a crystal and threw it at the dusty, threadbare curtains that suddenly appeared clean, strong, and vibrant. Then with another wave of his hand, the crystal leapt back to him and the curtain hung tattered and frayed once more.

"So we can not trust our eyes to anything," Hermione pondered.

"And how is that any different to your world where you have spells and potions to disguise and repel?" he asked, striding out of the alcove and circling them. "Forgive me if I have a better use of my time than to constantly clean up after my subjects."

Sarah yawned and then ran a hand through her hair. Hermione was jealous of the effortless way it stayed so straight and silky. Not once did her fingers snag on a wayward curl or a knot. She self-consciously pushed a stray curl behind her ear.

"How did you sleep, Sarah?" the King asked, clearly not expecting Hermione to answer his question.

"Alright," she said, not meeting his eyes. "So shall we get this hearing underway?"

"I hope you observe that despite my promise to only allow the hearing if you were unmentionably sweet towards me, I am still letting it go ahead."

"When was I not sweet?" Sarah asked blandly.

"Around about the same time as…the entire evening, Sarah."

"I let you touch my hair," she remarked. "That was sweet of me."

"Just so," he said more soberly. "You cried in front of me too."

"How is that sweet?" Hermione muttered more to herself than anything.

"Well, Ms Granger, wouldn't you agree that she never cries?"

"How do you know that?" Sarah blurted incredulously. "I cry…"

"Rarely, and my sweet, precious thing, have you not felt my presence over the years?"

"Have you been spying on me?"

"Spying is such a crude term," he said, leaning in towards Sarah. "I merely visited you in forms that you didn't instantly recognise."

Sarah attempted to scowl and then gave up like it was far too much effort to stay mad. "Can we please have this farce of a hearing done and dusted?"

"Why are you in such a hurry?"

"I want to see my brother and my friends before we go home," she snapped. "And I won't let you play games with me and drag this all out unnecessarily."

"Your insinuations are wounding," he said, placing his gloved hand over his heart. "When have I ever tried to keep you here against your will?"

Sarah rolled her eyes skyward. "If you had no intention of keeping us here, then you wouldn't see fit to make us have a hearing beforehand. You would just let us go."

"And I have already explained that I can't just let you go home, Sarah. As much as I desire to grant you anything and everything you ask of me."

"You wouldn't risk getting in trouble with dear old dad and dad for me?" Sarah pouted prettily at the King whom merely smirked.

"You think I am terrifying, but I am nothing compared to my fathers."

"Have you quite finished flirting?" came a darkly sardonic voice from the doorway ahead of them. Snape stood there, hands clasped in front of him, scowling at the three of them. "We are ready for you now."

"Flirting?" Sarah asked, incredulity dripping from both syllables. "If pure unadulterated loathing passes as flirting for you, then you can call it that I guess."

"No, I would not consider loathing as flirting, because then that would make everyone I have ever met rather uncomfortable," Snape replied deadpan. When his eyes met Hermione's she detected an unfamiliar sparkle in their depths. Who knew he had a sense of humour? Hermione managed to change her laugh into a cough and had believed that she was rather successful until Snape spoke lowly to her as she passed him. "Yes, there is more to me than greasy hair and sarcasm, Ms Granger."

They entered a dimly lit circular room that looked similar to a courtroom with a throne at one end, a bench facing the throne and then multiple benches enveloping the room. They were mostly empty except for several goblins fidgeting in a few rows. The King strode in ahead of them and took his seat on the throne. Snape instructed both women to sit at the bench facing him.

"We are here to listen to the petition of Lady Sarah Williams, of Above and Mistress Hermione Granger, of Above to the Unassailable, Ineffable, Magnanimous Jareth, King of the Goblins," a goblin with a deep voice announced. A smattering of muttering traversed the room.

"I am ready," the King declared, waving his hand and hooking his leg over the arm of his throne.

"Er…" Hermione stood up and instantly had a goblin pushing her back down. "We would like to petition to go home to the…" She looked at Sarah helplessly as she scrambled for a name for her homeland.

"To the Aboveground," Sarah finished for her. "Specifically, London, England and preferably our flat in Dorchester Street."

"And why would you require that from our Liege?" the goblin who had commenced the hearing asked.

"We don't belong here," Hermione replied, crossing her arms. "It was a mistake that we ended up here."

"Why do you claim it was a mistake?" the goblin asked. "Did you, or did you not, walk willingly through that arch?"

"No, it pulled us in," Sarah said. "I might have wanted to go through it, but I don't believe that was my true feelings, but rather a strong magical compunction."

"And we were literally dragged through," Hermione reiterated. "We tried to stop but it wouldn't release us until we landed here."

King Jareth looked bored with the proceedings as the goblin rattled off more questions that ended with the same answers provided. When it became too circular, Jareth slashed his hand through the air and barked a loud, "Enough."

The room went silent.

"You can visit your friends and your brother and then you are free to return," he rose out of his throne and without looking at either of them, marched out of the room. Sarah and Hermione exchanged looks with one another and then at the lead goblin that merely shrugged and scampered off. Seconds later, they were completely alone.

"That's it then?" Sarah asked as they both stood from the bench.

"Not necessarily," came Snape's voice from the shadows. "You have his permission to return—he was never going to deny you that—but whether he can actually return you is another issue."

"What?" Hermione nearly bellowed, her voice reverberating off the stone walls.

Snape's eyes fell to her chest again and then flicked up to her eyes. "There are some things in play that even the King is powerless to control."

"And what does that have to do with Hermione's breasts?" Sarah asked, having clearly noticed his roving eyes.

"Nothing, I assure you," he replied coolly.

"Then why do you keep looking at them?" Sarah asked, verging on petulance.

Snape smirked. "I can assure you that it is not Ms Granger's breasts that interest me. Do not fret for your friend. I am no threat to her honour or dignity."

"Well, you quite clearly were perving at them," Sarah snapped as Hermione wondered if she could simply dissolve into the aether to avoid this conversation altogether.

"That is just a matter of perception," he said. "I am to escort you to your friends and Ms Granger is free to explore the castle as she deems fit."

"Can she not come with me to visit my friends?"

"Not this time," he replied, tucking his hands away in his cloak. "The short scabby one wishes to meet with just you for now."

"Hoggle!" Sarah corrected, cheering up at the thought of seeing her friend. Hermione watched them both leave with a feeling of dread now that she was completely alone. She released a breath and then moved to the exit.

"Of course, if one is to look for Ms Granger, the first place they should check is the library."

Hermione glanced up from the book on the Labyrinth's history to see Snape standing in front of her table with his hands behind his back.

"You're looking for me?" she asked.

"Hardly."

He started to head away from her into the shelves.

"Will you tell me why you're not dead?" she called, hardly expecting him to stop. She heard no answer, so she returned to her book.

"My mother wished my brother away when I was a child," he answered from directly behind her.

Hermione jumped in her seat. "Do you have to keep doing that?" She placed her hand over her heart as it raced from fright.

"She wasn't successful like your friend; she lost my brother during her run of the Labyrinth." His voice was deadpan and she could tell he must be occluding. She slowly closed her book as he gripped the back of the nearest empty chair; his hair forming the black curtain across his face that she was used to. "He was turned into a goblin. And the Goblin King offered to take me too. He saw how miserable my situation was. I refused and he offered me a boon for when I reached the end of my life."

"To come here?"

"Precisely."

"So are we all dead too?"

"Don't be ridiculous." He sneered. "I am not dead. I was dying and would have died had King Jareth not seen fit to deliver his promise. He saved me."

Hermione unconsciously fingered her necklace, not missing the way Snape's eyes darted to the pendant. "But you haven't aged."

"I have not."

Hermione smoothed her hands over her cheeks. "Are we now the same age?"

"Biologically, perhaps."

"So it was that easy? You just started dying and he appeared to take you here?"

"Moments after you left."

Hermione nibbled her lip as guilt surged through her. "I…"

"Did a basilisk snatch your tongue?"

"I just wanted to apologise for believing you were dead and not doing more," she gushed in one go.

Snape levelled a glare at her and then sighed. "I didn't expect anything less…or more. After all, you didn't know I killed Dumbledore under his orders and not because I am a heartless, cruel…I am a heartless, cruel bastard, but…but you didn't know, so why should you have done more for me?"

Hermione glanced down at her fingernails as the guilt refused to abate. "I should have known."

"Unfortunately, I did my job too well. You weren't meant to know." He rubbed his forehead. "However, if anyone would have figured it out, I would have pegged you as the person to figure it out."

Hermione blushed, biting her lip harder to avoid a satisfied smile. That was the first compliment he ever paid her, but it soon ebbed with the realisation that she never figured it out and therefore wasn't truly deserving of his praise.

"You fooled one of the most dangerous wizards our world has ever known," Hermione said quietly as her hair fell around her face. "What chance would I have compared to that?"

"Don't discredit yourself, Ms Granger. The Dark Lord was powerful, yes, but he was mostly charismatic." Snape closed his eyes. "Your intelligence is different to his, but no less frightening…er…I don't mean to say that you are…He…"

Hermione blinked. She had never heard Snape so discombobulated. Was it the mere fact he was presenting her with a compliment that he was struggling to compose himself?

"Forgive me," he mumbled. "I am not making myself very clear. He did not temper his intelligence with kindness, empathy or compassion. Obviously."

Snape finished briskly, his cheeks colouring ever so slightly. Hermione hid her amusement and donned her most serious expression so as to not hurt his pride. She suspected it cost him a lot to admit that he found her those three things. He didn't outright say it but the implication was heavy.

"I don't imagine he did." Hermione rubbed her chest where Dolohov's scar still remained. "You, at least, would be a bit more human if you were to rise to power."

Snape baulked slightly. "Whatever do you mean?"

"You were far more human even in your cruellest moments," Hermione replied.

"No, I meant…the bit about me rising to power."

"You invented spells, a Master of Potions, exemplary at defence and the best at Legilimens and Occlumency in Britain, or maybe even the world." Hermione paused for breath. "Your potential is terrifying and substantially greater than the previous incumbent."

"I wouldn't have the same draw as the Dark Lord," he said flatly. "I do not have that power over people. I merely have intimidation over children. Besides, what could I possibly stand for? I don't believe any of that guff that the Death Eaters were founded on and—"

His candour surprised her, but it seemed to take him unawares too as he snapped his mouth shut with a click.

"I wasn't wholly being serious," Hermione said, her lips curling. "I merely pointed out your potential."

"I have no wish for power, Ms Granger, so your flattery is wasted on me."

"Of course," Hermione replied, straightening her book and running her thumb along the hard edge. "What is it that you wish for?"

"I don't believe that is any of your business."

There was always going to be a line with Snape and she just crossed it. She heaved a sigh and changed tack. "Did you know he was going to save your life before it happened?"

"I did, but by the time I was actually walking to my death…walking to the Whomping Willow…I had all but forgotten." His hands loosened on the back of the chair and he relaxed his shoulders infinitesimally. "And before you ask, no, I don't know which one of these horrid creatures is my brother."

Hermione swallowed. She had been so lost in his story she almost forgot that fact. "Was he younger or older?"

"Younger. His name was Gordian."

"And why did your mum—"

"Wish him away?" Snape sneered at her as she crossed his arms. "Not for the reasons you imagine, but because he was her favourite and she wanted him safe from my father."

Hermione's heart sank but she couldn't rationalise why.

"I shouldn't even remember him. That's how it is meant to work. Only the one who wished the child away and lost them, is allowed to remember the child, but I remember him." He paled slightly. "I remember him."

Hermione was struck hard by her realisation: she felt sorry for Snape. His life had been a cold and bitter one, but he had been the less favoured child to top it all off.

"I was an only child," Hermione said reflectively. "I always wanted a brother or sister. I can't imagine what you must have gone through losing him in such a way. I am so sorry, S…" She suddenly didn't know what to call him. Severus seemed too informal; he wasn't her professor, and Snape seemed rude. "Sir," she finished lamely.

"I hardly need your sympathy," he snarled and then with a wave of his black cloak, he stalked back down the shelves he had started down when he had first arrived.

Hermione hoped that Sarah was enjoying the day with her friends, but not too much. Obviously, she wanted to go home and that wouldn't happen if she got sucked in too deeply into this place. After Snape's visit, Hermione lost interest in the book she was reading and started meandering around the castle once more. When she first found the library this morning, she was quite sure she would never leave, but something about her interactions with Snape were getting under her skin.

Especially the way he looked at the necklace. He might as well look askew at it, but surely it can't be a surprise that she has it. After all…

Her thoughts trailed off when she noticed Jareth, the Goblin King, leaning against a window sill ahead of her. He looked like he was muttering to himself as he placed a gloved palm against the glass. She halted in her tracks.

He looked up. "Ah, she has not yet returned has she?" he asked, straightening up.

"No."

"Her brother is moments away from being here," he said, gazing back out the window. "Will it make her truly happy to see him?"

"I can't answer for her," Hermione replied, knowing full well that it would make her ecstatic.

"I suppose she told you how she knows me."

"You kidnapped her brother and challenged her for the right to take him back," Hermione said dryly.

"I gave her what she asked for," he said, snarling slightly. "I do not steal, Ms Granger. I do not take what isn't freely offered, so therefore, it is factually incorrect to say I kidnapped him."

"I won't argue semantics with you," Hermione said, shrugging her shoulders. "She was only fourteen when you tried to convince her to love you."

The King gave her a look of haughty disgust. "And so you believe I am some kind of monster?"

"If the shoe fits…"

"When someone wishes away a child, it is my job, nay, my duty to offer a challenge fit for purpose," he explained. "So if her weakness was all the high sugar food content that she could eat without ever gaining weight or succumbing to a heart attack, then that is what Sarah would have seen in that crystal. And it would have been my job to remind her of that wish if she had ever reached the end. No mortal has ever beaten the Labyrinth until your friend did."

"So what you're saying is—"

"That Sarah was a teenager with romantic notions about fantasy kings, which from your very limited perspective, is what I am," he said, almost indifferently. "I did not dance with her because I chose it, Ms Granger, but rather because that is what she wished for at the time."

"So you don't love her?" Hermione asked bluntly.

He tore his gaze from the window to study her. "You give your opinion on things you know so very little about."

"You just said you did all that because that is what she wanted."

"It is what she thought she wanted as a fourteen-year-old girl, right up until the end when she defeated me by denying that power over herself," he clarified. "But no one has ever defeated me, so yes, she intrigues me."

"Intrigues you?"

"I spent less than ten hours watching the child, and you expect me to be in love with her?" he scoffed. "Severus led me to believe you were far more rational than that. I am intrigued by her, and being married to her wouldn't be a hardship, but love? No, love is not what I would call it."

"You want to marry her without love between you?" Hermione was flustered by this conversation but more than a little irritated that he was trying to belittle her understanding of what had occurred between them.

"Teasing Sarah about marriage is not quite the same thing as wanting it," he replied sharply. "Her expectations of me need to be met and if I didn't declare marriage at least once every conversation, then it would only lead to her disappointment."

"She expects you to declare marriage every chance you get?"

"She expects me to be arrogant and self-assured so that certainly plays a part."

"You would have more chance of winning her over, if you just acted like yourself instead of what you think she expects you to be."

"And where would the fun in that be?" He crossed to the opposite wall and leaned his back against it, bending one leg to rest his foot against the bricks. "If you take away my charm, my cruelty, and my generosity, you would just be left with a skinny man in very tight trousers. And you think Sarah would be happy with just a skinny man in very tight trousers?"

"I am sure there is more to you than that," Hermione replied, blushing furiously.

The King was smirking. "There is a lot of me."

Hermione tucked her hands under her elbows and shifted from foot to foot as she scanned the hallway for an escape route.

"Severus was not a popular man," Jareth said. Hermione got whiplash from the segue.

"Er." She couldn't think of anything else to say.

"I believe he had very little in the way of support despite what he did for your world."

"Opinions changed for the most part after his…er…death," Hermione replied, frowning. "Though some people hold to their old prejudices and dislike of him."

"And you?"

"What about me?"

"What were your feelings on Severus before and after you found out the truth?"

"Honestly?" Hermione scratched behind her ear as she contemplated what her feelings were. "Before we found out he killed Dumbledore, I didn't like him, but I respected him as a teacher. He was skilled but his temper sometimes outweighed his knowledge. I was shocked, hurt, and disappointed when I found out he had killed Dumbledore. Betrayed for the most part. Part of me—a very small part—wanted to believe there had been some mistake. After I found out the truth, I was relieved more than anything. And quite sad about his death, but I never knew him as a person to determine whether or not I liked him."

Jareth gave a slight nod. "And would you strongly object to getting to know him?"

"I am hoping to not be here long enough," Hermione answered, crossing her arms. "In what direction do these questions tend?"

"Severus is a hard man to please," Jareth replied. "It brings the mood down to have people who serve me spend most of their time in misery. I am merely trying to ascertain whether there is any happiness to be found."

"I think you're asking the wrong person. He hates me and always has."

"Yes, I gathered that was your assumption of him, but from my perspective, I see it rather differently. He is curious about you, which is triple-fold more interest than he has shown in anything else since he arrived here."

"His curiosity is probably based on a familiar face and that is it."

"Hmm, perhaps. Or it could be something more."

Hermione shook her head at the impossibility of the male species. They would not be corrected. "Regardless of his curiosity, I am still in control of my feelings, and they do not do your cause any favours."

"Do you refuse to call me by my title on purpose?" he asked with curiosity, not scorn.

Hermione shrugged.

He narrowed his eyes but seemed to dismiss his own question in favour of returning to the subject of Severus.

"I believe you both like books."

"Well, you have me convinced," Hermione said sardonically. "I will throw my entire life away and stay here because we both like books."

"Careful, your words have meaning here—even when dripping with sarcasm." It was Snape. Hermione glanced at him and tightened her crossed arms.

"Well, perfect timing," Hermione said, wryly. "You can tell your King how much you loathe me."

Something ineffable flitted across Snape's face but it was hastily replaced with indifference. "I do nothing under your command."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Merlin's trousers, save me from men."

"You are very hasty to dismiss an entire gender there, Mistress Granger," Jareth said, quirking a pale brow.

"When one of you actually listens to a woman and happily follows their leadership, then I will have more complimentary things to say about your gender," she said huffily.

"Severus, what is it that you want?" Jareth asked, ignoring Hermione and rather proving her point.

"Master Tobias Williams is here but the goblins that were sent to find you managed to get stuck in the portcullis."

"Right. Have Ginzop find Sarah and then bring her to the Tiaskia room. Tell Ginzop not to mention the reason for her return to the castle. I would like it to be a surprise." The King straightened his gloves and then set off in long strides down the corridor. Snape lingered for a few seconds more, watching her before also departing in a flurry of robes.

"Did you have an enjoyable day with your friends?" Jareth asked as Sarah trudged back inside. He had taken her by surprise, sitting as he was—lounging as he was—on a window ledge.

"I did, thank y—" She clamped her mouth shut but Jareth merely laughed.

"Thanking me is an old wive's tale. You can thank me all you want."

"Truly?" Sarah asked uncertainly.

"It is a rumour, much like the one where I can't lie," he said wryly. "I can assure you I can and do lie."

"Have you lied to me?"

"Yes," he said instantly but with an edge of trepidation. "I told you I could wait, but the longer you are here, the harder I am finding it, to resist you."

Sarah crossed her arms. "Then you know what you can do about that."

"You still want to go home," he replied, swinging his long legs off the ledge and striding towards her. His warm breath was skittering across her neck and it took her long moments to realise he was whispering into her ear. "I have a surprise for you."

"Do you?" Her voice was huskier than she liked it to be.

"Do you want it?" he asked before suddenly nipping her ear. Sarah gasped and pulled away but then without any conscious thought, she was pressing her lips against his. They were soft, warm and dry and oh so obliging. There was no hesitation as he slipped his tongue inside and pulled her close to his taut body.

It was brief but searing and Sarah felt the world tilt on its axis as she righted herself and pulled away from him.

"Do you want it?" he asked, both eyes equally dark.

She looked down to avoid eye contact but her vision was obscured by the rather prominent bulge in his trousers. Heat coiled inside her making her clit throb with need. She closed her mouth and swallowed painfully to try and ease her incredibly dry mouth.

"You are just a ball of enigmatic charisma wrapped in tight pants and strange hair," Sarah said, not realising she was practically panting.

"Yes."

"How can I trust you?" she replied. "How can I ever trust a fae?"

Jareth looked momentarily stricken. "I believe I can not answer that satisfactorily."

"So the answer is: I can't."

"You would have to take a chance." He pulled away from her; his head lowered as he returned to his ledge. "I can not force you to trust me."

"No." She continued up the corridor; her lips burning from the kiss and her clit pulsing. "I don't trust men in general, without adding magic to the mix. I am sorry, Jareth."

"So am I."

"So you said you had a surprise, or was that kiss it?" Sarah asked, feeling off-kilter and slightly wobbly.

"Your brother has arrived."

Hermione followed Snape to the Tiaskia Room which appeared to be a formal reception room, much cleaner and tidier than the shit-strewn throne room. A young curly, blonde teenager sat awkwardly on one of the gilded chairs. He squirmed in his seat as the two of them entered.

"Is my sister coming?" he asked, peering around Snape to watch as Hermione entered.

"She will be here shortly," Snape replied, heading into a corner to stand with his hands clasped behind his back. Hermione was about to pick one of the many seats to sit in when Snape shook his head and indicated that she should stand by him.

"Why?" she asked as she approached him.

"This isn't about you, Granger," he said through gritted teeth. "So we stand out of the way and remain quiet."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Such pomp and circumstance for a sister and brother reunion."

He turned towards her and levelled a glare at her. "Have you any idea how important your friend is to this realm?"

"Aside from the Glittery Git wanting to get into her knickers?"

"She is the Champion; a Lady of the Labyrinth," he said in short, sharp whispers. "She is second only to His Majesty and it is in your best interest to not forget that fact. Any disrespect shown to her, and King Jareth will make you pay for it. And your friendship will not be enough to protect you from his ire."

"He sounds delightful," Hermione muttered. "Punishing Sarah by hurting me will not ingratiate him with her."

"That's not how things work here," he whispered.

Hermione shrugged. She wouldn't be here long enough to care about it. She just hoped Sarah wouldn't get caught up in it and want to stay. She eyed Toby who was still wriggling in his seat and throwing covet looks at the two of them sequestered in the corner. He looked uncomfortable. Hermione bit her lip as she heard footsteps outside and Sarah burst in with her hair mussed up, her lips swollen and her brow furrowed deeply in a frown.

She looked like she had just been kissed.

The King sauntered in after her, wearing a rather smug and self-satisfied grin. Hermione scowled at him but then her attention was dragged away to the two people standing stock still and staring at each other.

"Toby?" Sarah asked cautiously while simultaneously brimming with excitement.

"Sarah?" he asked just as warily. "Please tell me you didn't almost die too?"

"No, I—" She took a step forward, looking crestfallen. "I didn't almost die, Tobes."

She then turned to Jareth with anger sparking behind her eyes. "How is it that if he was retrieved here by the Labyrinth just before he died, that we found and buried his body?"

Jareth gestured widely with his hands. "The Labyrinth replaced his body with an illusionite—a goblin that can take another's form and subsequently dissolve into nothingness. If you dug him up you wouldn't find anything in his coffin."

Hermione baulked at the imagery and unconsciously stepped closer to Snape. Had the same thing happened with his body? She tried to remember if they had found a body or not but found that her memory was slowly becoming hazy; it was seeping away from her and she could not bring it back.

Sarah opened and shut her mouth in quick succession before turning back to Toby with tears in her eyes. "I am so happy to see you, Toby."

Toby nodded. "If you didn't get brought here on the verge of your death, then why are you here?"

"We don't know. Some magic brought us here."

He nodded again. "Who is your friend standing with Severus?"

Sarah glanced at Hermione cowering in the corner. "Hermione Granger, my flatmate."

"Hi," he said, waving shyly. Hermione waved back. "Is it really you?" he asked Sarah, tears forming in his eyes.

Sarah nodded.

"I have missed you so much. Mom and Dad…" He choked on his words.

"They died shortly after you…well…after you were brought here."

Toby covered his mouth and let out a muffled sob before throwing himself into Sarah's arms. "King Jareth said they died, but I didn't want to believe…and he couldn't bring them here because they weren't fae-touched. But he brought me here and I haven't aged much, Sarah. Though apparently, I will slowly reach adulthood and then stay looking like I am twenty-one for the rest of eternity, but it is so gradual. And Jareth told me that you would one day come here the moment before you died and I hoped that it would be decades away, but also not that far away because I missed you…and mom…and dad. But to have become fae-touched…well…Jareth told me what you did."

"Oh, Toby, you don't know how sorry I am that I wished you away," Sarah said, crying into his shoulder.

"Don't be, Sarah." He patted her shoulder awkwardly. "If you hadn't, I would have died with Mom and Dad and I never would have seen you again. When you're about to die, we will have eternity together. And you will be the Queen and I will be the brother of the Queen, which I think makes me a Prince."

"It in fact just makes you a brother of the Queen," Jareth corrected, glibly.

"I won't be a Queen, Toby. Don't let Jareth fool you with falsehoods."

"But you have no choice, Sarah," Toby said, with a stubborn set to his jaw. "The Labyrinth has decided, not Jareth."

Hermione glanced at Jareth at the same time Sarah turned to him. He merely shrugged.

"I won't be marrying you," she hissed.

"You don't need to." Jareth formed a crystal and twirled it in his hand in a lackadaisical manner. "But it would make the entire thing more palatable if we were married."

Sarah gripped tight onto Toby as she scowled at Jareth with a look that promised retribution later but she did not verbally respond. Instead, she dedicated all her attention to her brother who couldn't shake off the watery smile on his face.

Hermione had been intrigued by the unfolding reunion, but now it felt like they were intruding. She turned away, and realised with a pang she had turned to Snape who was watching her silently. He canted his head slightly and then gestured with his finger for her to follow him. Though they were right in the corner with no doors so to where exactly she was supposed to follow him was beyond her.

He pushed gently on the wall beside him until it gave way, revealing a well-lit tunnel. She entered behind Snape and watched as the wall shifted back into place with no obvious opening remaining behind.

She swallowed thickly before turning to face Snape who was closer than she thought he was.

"Your friend is safe without us watching, but I think they require a bit of privacy."

She agreed.

"The castle is full of secret passageways. More than Hogwarts ever had and there is no rude magical map to help you," he offered by way of explanation.

Hermione snorted at the mention of the map.

"And no invisibility cloak to break a thousand rules with," he continued dryly.

"Well, that's a shame."

"You always struck me as someone who didn't like breaking the rules."

"That was exactly me," Hermione replied. "I once said being expelled was worse than death."

"But?"

"If we didn't break rules, then things around Hogwarts could have been a lot worse," she replied, pressing her back against the stone wall. He was close. Had she ever been this close to him before? The tunnel was clean and airy, but it was also narrow and Snape had to stoop making him angle closer to her than either of them were comfortable with. She could feel his breath chuffing across her face. To her surprise, the scent was light and pleasing like mint and lemon.

"Yes, setting me on fire certainly helped save Potter's life," he remarked, but not scornfully. "You are lucky that my alarm forced me to knock over the real culprit."

Hermione nodded so curls fell across her face to hide her embarrassment. "I was wrong to suspect you."

He smirked but didn't comment. He stepped away and took a few steps down the corridor. "Will you follow me?"

"Yes."

It was then that Snape released such a loud pent up sigh that Hermione felt it must have come from his toes.

"What's the matter?"

"I am not used to people trusting me. Especially not know-it-all former students of mine. But you followed me without question and it—I used to have to inspire fear to get any kind of obedience but you just accepted my word—"

"And do I have reason to distrust your word, Snape?"

"No, but that doesn't stop me from being surprised that you didn't put up any kind of fight."

"I was already feeling like we needed to give them space. Getting reunited like that…it takes an emotional toll. If I was reunited with my dead family then I wouldn't want an audience."

"Your family?" He started leading her down the clean and airy tunnel. "Did they pass?"

"My parents live, but some Death Eater wannabes decided to lash out and kill my aunt and young cousin after the war," Hermione said, biting back the grief that rose up. "My parents still have assumed identities to prevent the sympathisers from tracking them down."

"Assumed identities?"

"The year you were Headmaster, I charmed my parents' memories and they relocated to another country. It keeps them safe but they don't know me."

"You charmed them when you were merely a child?"

Hermione grunted. "I am more than just a regurgitator of textbooks."

Hermione couldn't see his face but the heavy silence that fell made her assume he felt chagrined.

They came to a door and he opened it, letting her sweep past first. She entered a comfortable sitting room with bookshelves covering every corner.

"My quarters," he said, a hint of pride in his voice. "Would you like some tea?"

Hermione spun to look at him with a questioning look.

"I am not your horrid, greasy git of a Potions Master anymore, so surely we can sit and consume a cup of tea like civilised adults."

She nodded, taking the seat he gestured to.

She watched Snape make tea with delicate, precise movements, much like he used while making potions. He looked up and caught her staring.

"The nerve damage from that blasted snake makes me a little clumsy these days," he said, colour slightly tinting his sallow cheeks.

"I couldn't tell," she replied, honestly, taking the cup from him. She gave it a sip, astonished to find it precisely how she liked it.

He considered her for a few moments and then sat down, crossing his long legs. "I appreciate the compliment, but perhaps I just hide it well."

"Or perhaps you were just that skilled even with nerve damage, that you are still exceptional."

"I can't send you home so there is little point in trying to butter me up."

Hermione rolled her eyes but then considered his life. He was only ever treated with any respect when someone wanted something from him. So her complimenting him couldn't be without motives.

"You don't need me to tell you how skilled you were at potions," she said quietly. She eyed the chocolate biscuits he had placed on the table wondering if she was brave enough to take one. He caught her looking.

"It might surprise you to learn I have a bit of a sweet tooth," he said, the corner of his lips curling slightly. "I lived a life of restraint to ensure that I never slipped in my role as a spy. Any vices that plagued my compatriots, my family, and my peers were largely neglected by me. Drugs, alcohol, sex…but sugary treats were something that I used to replace those…habits."

Hermione shivered at the way he rolled the word, 'sex' around his mouth. But hid it behind her teacup.

"Having dentists for parents means I mostly avoid those kinds of treats," Hermione said, to hide her discomfort at his sensual words. "But I am partial to a choccy bickie every now and then."

"Please," be said, holding up the plate for her. She took one and nibbled it politely. And she watched him pick one too.

"So are you the Minister of Magic?" he asked, leaning back in his chair.

"Hardly." Hermione didn't want to talk about her current life. It seemed so far removed from the current scenario that it felt wrong to discuss it for some reason.

"I'd have thought being the world's younger Minster would have suited you to the ground."

She shrugged. "People change."

"Clearly."

She didn't reply but focused on inspecting his sitting room. Her eyes travelled over the books and settled on an ornate thirteen-hour clock.

"Has enough time passed that I can return to Sarah?"

"I suppose." He cleared his throat, returned his cup to his saucer and stood stiffly behind his chair. Hermione swallowed the rest of her tea and popped the last bite of her biscuit into her mouth before heading towards the bookshelf that had been the entrance to his quarters from the tunnel.

They made their way along with only the sound of his dragon hide boots clicking down the corridor disturbing their silence. At the end, he opened the door slightly and peered in. It must have been clear because he opened it wider and allowed her to pass through. Sarah and Toby were sitting on a settee, tear stained faces turning to them as they entered.

Sarah gave a watery smile and all but launched herself at Hermione.

"Seeing Toby again has been the best."

Hermione nodded, feeling dread roil in her stomach.

"He's staying a few nights so I get to spend some time with him."

"I thought we would be going home after we saw him," Hermione said in a hushed voice. The King had departed but Toby and Snape were still keenly listening.

"You can understand that I want to spend time with my brother, though, can't you?" Sarah asked with a note of warning in her voice.

Hermione nodded feebly and felt Snape move behind her. "I am sure we can find ample books to entertain you with, Granger. And time moves differently here. Barely any time has passed in your world."

"Fine." Hermione kept her tone light but inside, her feelings were in turmoil. She couldn't stay here. As much as she loved Sarah, she loved other people earthside too.